September 24, 2009
Dear Friends,
I have just returned from an events-packed, long weekend in Colorado. It began with several interviews: a quick chat with Tron Simpson of KCMN Radio in Colorado Springs, a taped interview for the show Colorado and Company with Dreux DeMack at KUSA-TV (the NBC affiliate in Denver), an interview for Nexus News in Boulder, and an interview with Duncan Campbell of KGNU radio in Boulder. My Denver publicist, Lisa Maxson, did a fantastic job getting these interviews (pretty much at the last minute) and she also got my public talk listed in several local print and on-line publications.
On Saturday Jewel Heart presented a public talk at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and although there were several events happening in Boulder at the same time, about 30 people attended. It was wonderful to see our good friends who have moved to Colorado: Ruby Webber, Mary Beth Rossiter, John DeLuca, and Melissa Mooney.
On Sunday I gave a talk to the Tibetan Association of Colorado held at Boulder Integral. Because I gave the talk in Tibetan, Tenzin Dhongyal, President of the Tibetan Association of Colorado (who also did a great job of organizing this event) provided the following summary:
Summary of Gelek Rimpoche's talk to the Tibetan Community in Colorado on September 20, 2009
Gelek Rimpoche reminded our community to own our religious heritage and inspired us to be better Buddhists based on logic and understanding. He also expounded on the meaning and implementation of the refuge. Rimpoche deliberately kept the discussions simple and personal with an aim to reach out to the younger generation. The lively Q and A touched on some higher Buddhist philosophical practices that engaged the older members of our community. Afterwards, Rimpoche handed out his new commentary book on "The Four Mindfulnesses" to all the participants and personally autographed them.
Thank you, Gelek Rimpoche for taking your valuable time and your own expenses to inspire us in the path of Buddha Dharma. We truly hope to continue your blessings with more engaged Dharma discussions in our community.
You will also find the above information on Facebook. |
It was wonderful to see the younger generation of Tibetans who have a keen interest in their own cultural and religious heritage of Tibetan Buddhism. Among them, I also saw many family members (or those connected with the family) of Chotang Talama. He was the Chief Secretary General of the pre-1959 independent Tibetan Government, an anti-communist, and one of the major persons instrumental in bringing His Holiness out of Tibet to the free land. He was also the Dalai Lama’s second Minister for Religious Affairs in India for the exile government and later passed away in Colorado. Since his responsibilities as the Secretary General in Tibet and Minister for Religious Affairs in India included overseeing the activities of various monasteries, this brought back memories of living in the monasteries and witnessing their interesting spiritual and material bureaucratic functioninings. Seeing a large number of family members and also seeing their strong interest in their tradition was wonderful.
Lastly, I was a guest lecturer at Naropa University for Sarah Harding’s religious studies class, entitled “Buddhism in America.” Actually, it was a combination of three classes and even though she warned us that students don’t like to attend classes at 9:00 a.m., the lecture hall was full. I talked about my friendship with Trungpa Rinpoche, who founded Naropa, and reminisced a bit about my ealier visits to the community. Being at Naropa also reminded me of being with Allen Ginsberg for their summer schools. I even recited a couple of Allen’s poems about the question of sangha and about the question of innovation versus tradition. I thought of the Buddhist Gospel of Allen, which says “Touch what you want to touch (etc.)”
I also talked about what I consider to be the basis of being a buddhist practitioner, whether you are Western, Eastern, or Tibetan – whatever you are. I even consider some great Judeo-Christians to be Bodhisattvas because they uphold within their hearts Buddha’s principles on compassion. There is a tremendous dialogue about whether American-Tibetan Buddhism should hold strictly to tradition or whether it should be open to innovations. I strongly believe that Trungpa Rinpoche kept the doors open for both and I hope to follow that for Jewel Heart as well.
Gelek Rimpoche
August 24, 2009
Dear Friends,
I have been busy since my arrival in Malaysia.
I completed a three-day teaching on the Three Principles of the
Path held in a college (though it looked like a high school to me) in Kuala
Lumpur. It was very nice. Over 100 people attended
that.
I also completed a two-day Heruka Initiation and one-day
Vajrayogini Initiation at a Tibetan Buddhist dharma center.
There were about 100 people that attended the initations.
Then I began the Vajrayogini teachings last night (which will go on
through Thursday or Friday). Between 60 – 70 people are
attending the teachings.
Last night the Malaysians held a birthday dinner party for
me at a nice hotel here in Kuala Lumpur (I don’t remember the name of it right
now). About 80 people were there to celebrate with me – not
quite a black-tie affair but close. Chee Eng organized the
party and presented my book, The Four Mindfulnesses.
Her family sponsored the publication of it in honor of my 70th
birthday. We are also going to celebrate on Saturday with a “birthday high tea.”
Gelek Rimpoche
August 14, 2009
I am now in Malaysia and it is so wonderful to see both old and new friends here. I am giving a teaching this weekend on developing compassion for yourself. There are approximately 100 people attending the teachings.
July 16, 2009
Hi Everyone,
It is time for the Joyful Jewel Heart Summer Retreat. It will be a happy gathering and I am looking forward to it. The subject is Compassion in Action and we will also have some great activities such as a yoga workshop with Cyndi Lee, a writing workshop with Kathleen Ivanoff, two workshops on trauma with Deb Rozelle and others, and evenings of music and dancing - including with the Howling Diablos. To end the retreat, we will have a White Tara Longevity Initiation on Saturday morning. Then, on Sunday (August 2nd) I will do the Sunday Talk, Illusion of Self. You don’t have to attend the retreat for that.
Hope to see you there,
Rimpoche
July 8, 2009
Dear Friends,
This weekend I will be in Chicago. All of you are welcome, whether you are Chicago area residents or visitors. The teaching is on the Eight Verses of Mind Training by Langri Tangpa. That will be on Saturday and Sunday, July 11th and 12th. It will be in north Chicago at the Shambhala Meditation Center, 7331 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, 60626 - that is near Evanston. The teachings are from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm both days.
Then on Saturday evening I am also going to give a talk to the Tibetan community. This time the Tibetan community requested me to talk in English so that they can bring their own sponsors and friends. So if you are in the area you are welcome to that too on Saturday evening at 7:00 pm. It is the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago, 2422 Dempster Street, Evanston, Illinois, 60202, (847) 733-1111.
We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Gelek
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Gelek Rimpoche
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1939, Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. Carefully tutored from an early age by some of Tibet’s greatest living masters, Rimpoche gained renown for his powers of memory, intellectual judgment and penetrating insight. As a small child living in a monk’s cell in a country with no electricity or running water, and little news of the outside world, he had scoured the pictures of torn copies of Life Magazine for anything he could gather about America. Now Rimpoche brings his life experience and wisdom to both the east and the west.
Among the last generation of lamas educated in Drepung Monastery before the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet, Gelek Rimpoche was forced to flee to India in 1959. He later edited and printed over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost to humanity. Rimpoche was also instrumental in forming organizations that would share the great wisdom of Tibet with the outside world. In this and other ways, he has played a crucial role in the survival of Tibetan Buddhism.
He was director of Tibet House in Delhi, India and a radio host at All India Radio. He conducted over 1000 interviews in compiling an oral history of the fall of Tibet to the Communist Chinese. In the late 1970’s Rimpoche was directed to teach Western students by his teachers, the Senior and Junior Masters to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since that time he has taught Buddhist practitioners around the world.
Rimpoche is particularly distinguished for his thorough familiarity with modern culture, and special effectiveness as a teacher of Western practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Recognizing the unique opportunity for the interface of spiritual and material concerns in today's world, Rimpoche has also opened a dialogue with science, psychology, medicine, metaphysics, politics, and the arts.
In 1988, Rimpoche founded Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist Center. His Collected Works now include over 32 transcripts of his teachings, numerous articles as well as the national bestseller Good Life, Good Death (Riverhead Books 2001) and the Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing from the Female Buddha (New World Library 2004). Rimpoche is a U.S. citizen and lives in Michigan.
Good
Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation
Rimpoche's first book was released by Riverhead Books
in October, 2001.
The paperback edition was released in October of 2002.
Hardback Edition
Paperback Edition
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